Millions of South Africans will receive pre-populated tax assessments when the 2026 filing season opens. Experts caution that missing data could lead to penalties or lost refunds. Filing starts on 13 July for those not auto-assessed.
The South African Revenue Service will base its auto-assessments on third-party data from employers, banks and medical schemes. Taxpayers with simple affairs may see automatic refunds if no issues arise.
Those who disagree with their assessment or are not auto-assessed can submit returns from 13 July. Non-provisional taxpayers must file by 23 October while provisional taxpayers have until 22 January 2027.
SARS has added features for 2026 including WhatsApp notices and a dropdown list of medical schemes. André Bothma of TaxTim noted that SARS assesses only what it sees so taxpayers must verify their own records.
Gus Arnold of NMG Benefits warned that two-pot retirement withdrawals and multiple IRP5 certificates can trigger filing obligations even below the R95,750 tax threshold.
